My pregnancy journey

Finding out I was pregnant was a VERY unexpected surprise. I remember it like it was yesterday, it was Monday the 29th Feb 2016 on a typical cloudy London day. I woke up like every other morning but with a gut wrenching thought… I am LATE… and I don’t mean for the bus. February was such a busy month with a wedding abroad, my best friends 30th and us moving house that it completely slipped my mind.

So off I went to the doctors where they confirmed that I was indeed pregnant. I remember feeling shocked, scared, happy, sad and excited all mixed together into an overwhelming emotional cocktail. But the biggest emotion I felt most of all was guilt! Not only had I spent the month partying, drinking, eating cured meats and soft cheeses, I had spent a week in Mexico where the Zika virus had reared its ugly head.

I confessed to the Doctor that I had been drinking for the past 4 weeks not just in England but in Mexico and what the doctor said in response I will never forget “you hear of heroin addicts having healthy babies so as long as you stop drinking and live a healthy lifestyle you can too”. Not going to lie this made me feel much better about myself and like I hadn’t failed my baby before they were even born. As for the Zika virus, although I had no symptoms and the Doctor was 99% sure we were not infected she wanted to keep a close eye on us just to be sure.

To be safe we underwent monthly scans, blood tests, blood pressure checks and urine tests to ensure my baby was not effected by the Zika virus and over all heath was well. I was very lucky in that throughout the entire pregnancy I did not experience any complications and everything went as it should. Until we got to 41 weeks and 5 days and my little baby didn’t want to leave the womb, this was when I was induced.

After 4 days of being pocked and prodded to my dismay labour did not start. So at 42 weeks and 2 days I underwent an emergency C-Section but that’s another story.

All and all my pregnancy journey to be honest was not as hard as I thought it would be. I didn’t experience any morning sickness just a little nausea here and there. I got a few aches and cramps but that’s what fiancés are there for. I thought the toughest part would be watching my body change but that was actually my favourite part! Pregnancy is different for everybody and is a physical and emotional rollercoaster but at the end of the day I loved being pregnant. It was a wonderful life experience, not only can I say I am now immune to needles and am a pro at peeing in a cup, I have a beautiful healthy baby girl that I will cherish and love forever.